Athletes Flock to Germany for Experimental Blood Procedure

Treatments at his facility take five days, during which time he conducts an evaluation. Then blood is drawn, incubated, spun in a sieve to lower inflammation and to promote cell growth.
REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud

In Dr. Peter Wehling’s office on the banks of the Rhine offices, clients flock from all over the world for one procedure. The athletes are not just patients; often, they speak like disciples. He treats Olympic athletes, basketball players, Hollywood executives, and golf players. It has been rumored that he even treated Kobe Bryant.

What does he do? According to The New York Times, treatments at his facility take five days, during which time he conducts an evaluation. Then blood is drawn, incubated, spun in a sieve to lower inflammation and to promote cell growth. The mixture is then put into the person’s body.

For athletes, it is a chance to prolong use of their body. The best years of an athlete’s life are short-lived as their extreme activities wear down their bodies, with athletes usually retiring in their mid-thirties or forties, at a time when most people are reaching the pinnacle of their careers.

The procedure comes at a price – 6,000 euros, or 7,400 dollars – but to people who have gotten the work done, it is worth it. Vijay Singh, an internationally famous pro golfer, says that the procedure removes pain from the body.

The field of biologic medicine is growing. Another increasingly popular practice in the United States is platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which spins the blood to spur production of platelet cells, which helps promote healing. Wehling says his procedure is different though, because he heats up the blood before spinning it, in order to obtain anti-inflammatory protein, rather than platelets.

There are two offices that provide the procedure in Los Angeles and in New York, but since it remains as yet unapproved by the Federal Drug Administration, they cannot advertise. Still, Wehling is the first, even once receiving a visit from the Pope for the treatment.

Wehling, however, does not claim to be peddling a miracle drug. Sleep, diet, and exercise are all important elements to go along with the procedure. Regardless, he believes in the future of the field because, he says, it has been tested so little and there is much to be discovered with furture testing.